
Author ___ __ 

Title._ _ _ _____ 

s 1 
S3 1 

> cn 

v-J H 

Imprint _ _ _ _ _ — 

FT MEADE 

GenCel1 

fcs»__ ...JiSSi! 

16-47372-2 QPO 































if 


ifj, 


























































1 


SMB 
?« -q5« ; 
{MR? 

11 • # 


f ■ 


$ 


O 










































Sft 






,f®{3 * L , »4 










m 


i 





























































































































FT 

MEADE 


PRACTICAL HINDUISM 

AS IT IS IN INDIA 

BY 


BL 1210 
. V3 

Copy 1 



A. G. VAN HAAFTEN 

A Native of British India 


(All rights reserved by author.) 

1902 


Copyright, 1902. 


















the UBftASY 

©ONGftESS, 1 

f.-CHIVF. j 

m. 8 1902 

E tsMT BNTUr 

O^xXa Ho. 

“) / S' ^ 


eoFt a. 


j 









<K 

\ 








Introduction. 

I gladly write a few words of introduction to “Practical Hindu¬ 
ism,” because the mind in its search for “Truth,” easily recognizes, in 
the following pages, the hand of one thoroughly acquainted with and 
competent for his self appointed Born and raised under influen¬ 

ces set forth in these pages, he is competent to write a true statement 
of the facts. It is with absorbing interest that one contemplates the 
many-sided pictures here presented of the social and religious manners 
and customs of a people so distant from us and yet so closely related. 

I was impressed with the superior value of the Western Civiliza¬ 
tion as compared with that of the Hast. Hardly anything which 
seems so essential to our Western culture and developement is found 
among the manners and customs of these strange people. That which 
has made the Occidental nations so strong and dominating has been 
ignored by the Orient as worse than valueless. Home life, the bul¬ 
wark of the West, is here unknown. Childhood and youth are so 
merged into manhood and womanhood, that the most beautiful period 
of life is eliminated. Childhood practically is lost, in that the infant 
passes from babyhood to the married state and consequently to man¬ 
hood and womanhood. Woman has sunk to such a low degree that 
she is no longer a companion and helpmeet for man but his slave and 
the sport of his passions. 

Religion which has so exalted the West has become, in the East, 
the chief instrument of tyranny and oppression. Instead of revealing 
God to man it has clouded his mind, dulled his perceptions and left him 
to create a god lower arid more degraded than himself. The religion 
of the West has permeated and uplifted the law so as to make it an 
agent of purity and the elevation of man. In the East, law is the 
agent by which religion and worship are elevated and purified. 

I am sure every candid searcher after truth, as he diligently 
searches these pages, will have no trouble in recognizing the cause of 
the superiority of the Western civilization. He must come to the con¬ 
clusion that the superiority is the outgrowth of religion rather than 
race. Otherwise how explain the activity and advancement of the one 
and the lethargy and stagnation of the other of these two great 
branches of the Aryan race. 

REV. H. B. SCOEES. 

Iowa Conf. of the Methodist Episcopal Church, U. S. A. 



1 > 

> > ■ ) 

; ) 

; ) > > 


. ' > > , > > . > > > , > > 
> > > > > , 3 3 3 , 9 3 
) ) ) > ) 9 > > * > » > 

>>))>>> ) ) ) ) ) ) ) 


» ) ) 




Preface. 

After delivering- a series of lectures on the religions of India in a 
town in one of the Western states, a prominent member of the church 
surprised me by asking “Brother did you come from India in a covered 
wagon?” I explained our route to the United States of America briefly. 
He seemed incredulous and finally said, “Well! I did not know that there 
was any water between India and America.” On another occasion a 
man asked me if the Hindoos in India were called “bush-rangers.” 
Still another who claimed to be an evolutionist very wisely inquired 
of me whether we were discovered a few years ago or not, and might 
not the Hindu race be the “Missing Eink.” Having been asked many 
such questions at different times, I concluded that there were some 
even in America, who were not acquainted with my native land and 
its inhabitants. Eater I met some who had studied not only the relig¬ 
ions of the East, but were thoroughly acquainted with the ancient 
mystic and philosophical teachings of the orient. Unfortunately a 
large majority form erroneous ideas regarding India, as they draw 
their conclusions from the writings of those who discuss the ancient 
Puranic and Vedantic lore instead of the present condition of the 
Hindus. Many therefore are deluded into a wrong conception of Hin¬ 
duism. There are thousands in this country who, beguiled by the 
seductive siren of mysticism, drop the bread of eternal life into the 
waters of cold neglect and pursue the phantom shadow of the former 
until they are lost in the wilds of doubt, agnosticism and skepticism. 

Many even in our churches are confused at the conflicting accounts 
they hear and read about the far East. An earnest pastor in a com¬ 
munity makes a stirring appeal for missionary funds, he presents a 
strong plea on behalf of the “ignorant and uncivilized” people of 
India; butun the same neighborhood there are ‘Freethinkers,’ ‘Agnos¬ 
tics’ and ‘Spiritualists’ who have and distribute books, papers and mag¬ 
azines which praise the ancient culture and high state of civilization 
of the “Eand of the Vedas.” A converted Hindu girl, chaperoned by 
a missionary, tours through the states and in piteous tones narrates 
her experience, tells of the millions who are groping in heathen dark¬ 
ness, hungering and thirsting for the gospel of Christ. The emotions 

,!< ,(C» l < ( I , • S « 

(.tic t c c « * 

{•< l t f. 4 ( I MC < 

4C l St<44c (M I ( < 



( l C 


« « 








of the audience are affected, a few tears are shed, a goodly sum sub¬ 
scribed and the congregation return home satisfied they have done 
their duty. 

A few days later, some of the subscribers read the stirring and able 
addresses delivered at Chicago during the Parliament of Religions, at 
the World’s Fair, by delegates from India, Japan, China and other 
Oriental lands. They read not only the defense of Hinduism, Bud¬ 
dhism, Confucianism, Islamism and other Oriental-isms but notice 
literature, scattered broadcast throughout the land by publishers, 
whose names are legion, who by false comparisons disparage Christian¬ 
ity. Insinuations are cunningly interwoven in all literature of the 
above descriptions attempting to prove the inefficiency of foreign 
missions, etc., etc. Is it any wonder then that with these counter¬ 
acting influences daily increasing the increase in the missionary col¬ 
lections should be so meager? 

Knowing the above statements to be facts and being of the opinion 
that ignorance is not a pre-requsite condition for the gospel of Christ, 
and that pity is not the chief incentive to missionary zeal, it is with 
an earnest desire to place before the public the actual present religious 
and social condition of the Hindus that this pamphlet is written. I 
pray that it may be of help to some who have not the time or oppor¬ 
tunity to study better and more comprehensive works on the subject. 

Without any apology therefore, the following pages are launched 
on the ocean of public thought and criticism. 

A. G. VAN HAAFTEN. 


3 


Contents 

India, page 5 


HINDU WORSHIP 

page 


I. The Building 7 

II. Objects of Worship 8 

1. Idols 8 

(a) Hero Worship 8 

(b) Personified attributes 

of God 9 

(c) Nature Worship 10 

2. Animals 10 

3. Reptiles 11 

III. Modes of Worship 11 

1. Temple Service 12 

(a) Establishment 12 

(b) Program 14 

2. Sacrifices IS 

(a) Animals 15 

(b) Self 16 

3. Domestic Worship 16 

4. Results on Home Life 17 

5. Hindu Daw on Woman 18 

CASTE 

I. Caste 20 

II. Origin of Caste 20 

III. Present System 21 

IV. Caste Rules 21 

V. Evil Effects of Caste 23 

VI. Personal Observation 25 


CEREMONIAL RITES 


page 

I. Birth Ceremonies 27 

1. Offerings 27 

2. Social Gatherings 27 

3. Horoscopes 28 

4. Fatality 28 

5* Partiality to Sex 29 

II. Marriage Ceremonies 30 

1. Marriageable Age 30 

2. No personal liberty 30 

3. Journey to the Temple 31 

4. Method of Service 31 

5. The Priest 31 

6. Wedding Procession 31 

7. Polygamy 32 

III. Burial Rites 33 

1. Death 33 

2. Care of the Sick 33 

3. Funeral Services 33 

4. Cremation Ground 34 

5. Uncleanness 34 

IV. Bathing Ceremonies 34 

1. Religious Baths 35 

2. Kasi or Benares 35 

3. Sons of the Ganges 35 

4. Divers Washings 35 

5. The Gayatri 36 


“If any man is able to convince me and show me I do 
not think or act right , I will gladly change. For I SEEK 
THE TRUTH by which no man was ever injured. But he 
is injured who abides in his error and ignorance.” 

MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONIUS. 

“I AM THE TRUTH.”— 

—JESUS THE CHRIST. 





Boundary. India politically including Burmali and the 
Malay peninsula Mies between latitudes 8° 35° N., and 
longitudes 65°and 100° E. of Greenwich. The peninsula 
is bounded on the north by the Himalayan range with the 
snow-capped peaks of Mt. Everest rising above the clouds to 
an altitude of 30,000 feet above the level of the sea; on the 
west by the Arabian sea the Hala and Saleman mountain 
ranges which separate India from Afghanistan and Beluchi- 
stan; on the east by the bay of Bengal and the Chinese sea; 
and on the south lies the Indian ocean. 

Exports. Rice, wheat and cotton are the principal 
exports. Jute or flax, opium, indigo, tea ‘India linen,’silk, 
mosaic and lacquer work are also exported. 

Animals. Elephants, tigers, leopards, panthers, hyenas, 
jackals and bears abound in the jungles. Horses, dogs, 
goats, cattle and sheep are the chief domestic animals. 
The elephant is used by the commisary department of the 
British Army. The native princes use the elephant as beasts 
of burden and on festive occasions they form a part of the 
procession. 2 They are often trained for tiger hunting, a 
sport enjoyed by the wealthy and the nobility. Howdahs 3 
are firmly strapped on the backs of the elephants with seat 
ing capacity for about four in which the hunters take their 
seats. The driver sits astride on the neck of the animal, 
while the beaters with tomtoms and drums drive the tiger 
from his lair. Hundreds of tigers and leopards are annual¬ 
ly destroyed. Pig-sticking or hunting the wild boar is a 
favorite pastime for the officers of the army and civilians. 
The farmers use water-buffaloes and oxen instead of horses 
on the farms. The cattle are smaller in size than those of 
America or England. All of which, except those imported, 
have humps on their backs between the fore-shoulder. 

1. Farther India. 3. An oblong box-like vehicle made of 

2. Costly trappings adorn the elephants. wood and sometimes ornamented. 


5 


Modes of Conveyance. The .steam-boat and the rail¬ 
road are the improvements undertaken by the English 
goverment during the last century. The street-car system 
(called tramways) is the latest improvement in the cities. 
A good deal of travel in Bengal is done on boats. The ox¬ 
cart is yet used extensively for travel in the villages and it 
takes the place of the drays in the cities. The carriages are 
mostly built after the English style. The palanquin com¬ 
monly called palki, is a box-shaped vehicle with rattan 
seat and poles at the end carried by four men who are 
called “Palki-bearers.” Cab-drivers are called gari-wallahs. 

Government. Three-fourths ol the country is under the 
beneficent rule of Great Britain. The Viceroy or Governor Gen¬ 
eral of India is the representative of the English sovereign, who 
is the emperor of India. 1 Since 1757, India has practically been 
under British rule. After the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 the 
reins of government w r ere transferred from the hands of 
the Hon. East India Company to the direct control of the 
Crown. The principal native rulers are the Nizam of Hy¬ 
derabad, the King of Mysore, the Gaikwor of Baroda, the 
Maharajahs of Cashmere, Travancore and Kuchbehar, all of 
whom are independent sovereigns yet enjoying the protec¬ 
tion of England. 

Population. The average density of population in India 
is 200 to the square mile. Three-hundred millions of people 
live in a country not larger than two-thirds of the area of 
the United States of America. Notwithstanding the unpre¬ 
cedented ravages of the Bubonic plague and the famines the 
population has increased 2 per cent in the last decade. 

Language, About seven different languages and a hun¬ 
dred different dialects are spoken in India. The Sanscrit is 
not a spoken language. It is uncertain if it ever was. 

Religions. The principal religions of India are Hindu¬ 
ism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Islamism and Christianity. 
The following pages treat of present-day or Practical 
Hinduism. 

1. On the 1st of May 1876, the queen of 

England was made Empress of India. 


b 


Hindis WorsHip. 

The building.— The Musjid, Temple and Church are 
commonly accepted terms designating places of worship 
used by Islamists, 1 Hindus and Christians, respectively. 
The temples in India vary in size and structure, from an al¬ 
cove built within the trunk of a massive Banyan 2 tree or a 
shapeless mound of bricks plastered with clay to magnifi¬ 
cent buildings of stone and brick decorated with trellised 
marble and gilded spires. Some have large pucca 3 com¬ 
pounds. 4 The shrine in which the idol is kept is generally 
small with one door in front and a small circular opening 
for light and ventilation about eight or ten feet high on the 
opposite wall toward the east. The chief idol of the temple 
is set against the east wall. Into this chamber, the “holy 
of holies” of the Hindoos, the priest 5 alone is permitted to 
enter. The temples are often ornamented with sculptured 
and painted figures of gods and goddesses. The two largest 
in India, at Pooree and Srinagam, are covered with very 
indecent sculptures in bas relief. The Indian penal code has 
the following against obscene books, pictures and images:— 

Sec. 292. “Whosoever sells or distributes, imports or 
prints for sale or hire, or wilfully exhibits to public view; 
any obscene book, pamphlet, paper, drawing, painting, 
representation or figures; or attempts, or offers so to do, 
shall be punished with imprisonment of either description 
for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine, 
or with both.” 

As the hindu temples often offend in the above respect, 
to prevent their prosecution the following exception had to 
be made:— 

“This section does not apply or extend to any represen- 

1. Followers of Mohamet. 4 , Court-yards. 

2. Peepul or Ficus Indica. 5 . The Brahmin iu charge. 

3. Paved with stone or til®. 


7 


tation, sculptured, engraved, painted or otherwise repre¬ 
sented on or in any temple or on any car used for the 
conveyance of idols or kept or used for any religious 
purpose.” 

The problem of harmonizing the religious liberty of 
hindu subjects with European ideas of morality and human¬ 
ity based upon Christian ethics, has been a difficulty that 
the British Government has long striven to solve. Gradually 
but steadily and firmly are laws being enacted which in¬ 
fringe upon ancient customs and suppress the cruel and 
degrading rites. This policy of England is severe^ censured 
by those opposed to progress and social reform but looked 
upon by the converted natives and the intelligent public as 
a strong factor tending to the ultimate advancement of 
India. 

Objects of worship.— Idols, animals and even reptiles 
are worshiped. Idols are of three kinds:—Graven images 
of ancient heroes. Personified attributes of Brahma, 
the chief of the hindu triad, represented in sculpture or 
painting. Natural laws or cosmic principles are endowed 
with innate intelligence and graven into symbolic forms. 

With subtle argument the educated hindu tries to con¬ 
vince the Christian that he only renders homage and not 
worship to the images of his hero-gods, with cunning 
eloquence the hindu orator in Christian lands shields idola¬ 
try by claiming Hinduism to be a system of‘Philosophical 
symbolism’ adapted to the mystic trend of the Oriental 
mind, with deceptive sophistry others liken idols to photo¬ 
graphs and statues of national heroes that adorn the walls 
in Christian homes. Notwithstanding these deceptive sub¬ 
terfuges WE HINDUS IN INDIA, WORSHIP IDOLS. 

Hero-worship. —Ram, Lakshman, Ravana, Bhim, Ar- 
juna, Satrughna, Sita, Lakshmi, Kabi, etc., etc., and 
thousands of other heroes and heroines have been canonized, 
deified and now are worshiped as gods and goddesses. 
Temples are dedicated to them and sacrifices are daily 
offered to their images by millions. Many of these are 


8 


actual historical personages of ancient Hindustan. 1 The 
exploits of these deified heroes are written in all the rich 
imagery of the Sanscrit language in the Mahabharat, 2 
Ramayan 3 and other books. To some of these heroes of 
the hindu pantheon are ascribed deeds of valor that are 
incredible, yet believed by the masses because their legends 
are considered to have been inspired, whether written or 
traditional. Not only super-natural but unreasonable and 
absurd actions are often attributed to them. One of them 
in a fit of anger took the sun and put it into his right ear; 
another took a handful of sand from the bed of the ocean 
and threw it toward the north where it may yet be seen in 
the form of the Himalaya 4 mountains!!! The masses of 
the hindus believe these stories and worship their images. 

The idols of India cannot be compared to the Photos 
and Statuary of Western lands. As soon as we purchase a 
painting, image or sculptured figure of a god we must take 
it to the temple, where it goes through the pran-prathista 5 
ceremony which changes its nature and endows it with 
divine powers and virtues. This ceremony is not mentioned 
in any of the books written in this country by admirers of 
Hinduism, nor was it mentioned by any of the advocates 
of Hinduism at the World’s parliament of Religions. The 
learned Swamis 6 were discreetly silent. The figures of some 
idols are unnatural and grotesque, having two to ten heads, 
three to twenty hands and one to thirteen eyes. They are 
nude, hideous and have a demoralizing tendency. 

Symbol Worship.— Mahadeo, Ganpati, Jagannatha, 
Brahma and Vishnu are some of the names of the idols wor¬ 
shiped as personified attributes of God by the intelligent few. 
The majority however, after the pran-prathista ceremony 
see no further than the carved blocks of stone and wood, and 
worship the idols. Some of these images bear no semblance 
to either man or beast, some are part human and part 
animal as Ganesha, yet sacrifices are daily offered to them 
and the various ceremonial rites observed in their presence. 

1. Stan, place. Place of the hindus. ‘Abode of Snow * 

2 and 3. Sanscrit, epic poems. 5. Soul-impartmg. 

A. Heem, snow and alaj a, dwelling place. 0. Professors or leaders in thought. 

9 


Nature Worship— The operative principles in nature 
are worshiped in the forms of idols or images symbolically 
representing them as Karma, Narayan, Durga, Siva Linga, 
etc., etc. Oriental scholars and others deluded by specula¬ 
tions in mysticism and idealism call this system Pantheistic 
philosophy. My pamphlet No. V. on “Comparative Hindu 
philosophy” shows their contradictory and untenable 
conclusions. Suffice it to say here that 999 out of 
every 1000 Hindus worship these images as gods and do 
neither care to know, nor understand the philosophical 
inferences that may be drawn from their allegorical shapes. 
I am dealing with practical hinduism, as we are; and not 
the vague theoretical speculations paraded before the 
American public under such euphonious titles as “Eastern 
Mysticism,” “Occult Science,” “Secret Doctrine,” “Mahat¬ 
mas and adepts,” “Hindu Temple Mysteries,” “Psychic 
Monism,” “Yoga Thought,” “Hindu Philosophy,” etc. 

Animal Worship. —The tiger, cow, monkey and several 
other animals are worshiped by the Hindus in India. The 
tiger is worshiped and its wrath appeased through fear; 
the cow, through gratitude for supplying nourishment to 
the infant; the monkey for the deeds of valor ascribed to 
the pre-historic ape, in our sacred legends. Hanuman 1 is a 
popular deity amongst us. He is said to have been born 
originally of Pavana 2 and a monkey mother. He could 
assume any dimensions at will and put the sun under his arm 
and dart through the air like lightning. Sarasi a rakshasi 3 
tried to swallow him but Hanuman stretched himself so that 
his mouth was large enough to swallow the sun! then sud¬ 
denly shrinking to the size of a pea he darted into her open 
mouth and getting out through the right ear made good 
his escape. The ridge of rocks in Palk’s Strait, between 
Ceylon 4 and India is said to have been placed there by 
Hanuman during the siege of Lanka and used as a bridge 
by the invaders. 

The above legends are to be found in the Ramayana and 

1. Sanscrit term for monkey. 3. A fabulous female monster. 

2. The Wind. 4. Ancient Lanka. 


10 


accepted by the hindus as authentic and inspired sacred 
histor}^. Cats are worshiped because the goddess Shasti, 
who protects children, came to this world from heaven 
riding on a cat when the first child was born. This goddess, 
or rather the cat, is a special object of worship to the hindu 
women. The bull is worshiped because of Sivas frequent 
legendary journeys on its back. The kite is worshiped be¬ 
cause it preys on snakes, but the snake also is worshiped. 
Mr. Vimana, a hindu poet of South India says:— 

“Seeing a bull made of stone, 

Men worship it; 

Seeing the living animal 
They flog it.” 

Reptiles, —Many of the hindus worship reptiles, 
prompted chiefly by fear. The most deadly viper, the Cobra, 
is particulary reverenced. Childless woman often go to 
the holes of the cobra and deposit offerings of milk with 
invocations and prayers. Animal worship has reached its 
lowest depths in India. Not only is the cow worshiped but 
her very excrements are considered sacred. Her urine is the 
best of holy waters, a sin destroying liquid which purifies 
everything it touches. The ashes of the burnt cow-dung is 
so holy that being sprinkled with it makes the sinner a saint. 
To swallow a pill composed of the five products of a cow 
will even cleanse a man from the deep pollution of a visit to 
England! (See caste p 25.) 

When people manufacture gods they make them like 
unto themselves. The hindus assign different animals to 
different gods. Siva has a bull, Brahma a swan, (see p 15) 
Ganeshaa rat, Kartikya a peacock, Indra an elephant, Vish¬ 
nu a garuda (half man and half bird.) These foolish rites 
are not the result of ignorance , nor are they confined to a 
few of the lower castes, but are taught by the Brahmans, 
written in the shastras and practised by the public. 

The stories of the gods and goddesses might be con¬ 
sidered puerile and unworthy of notice were it not for the 
tendency of practical hinduism to deprave manhood, de¬ 
ll 


grade womanhood and foster a spirit of exclusiveness so 
detrimental to the progress of the country. 

Modes of Worship.— An account of the various diver¬ 
sified methods of hindu worship would fill a set of volumes 
as large as the Enclyclopaedia Brittanica. The 200 millions 
of Hindus have no general code or discipline of worship. 
Each sect, province, district, even village have their own 
peculiar manner of worship. We may however divide the 
worship into three parts: — Temple service, Sacrifice and 
Domestic worship. 

Temple Service. —The temple establishment consists 
of priests, disciples, musicians and the deva-dasi, or servants 
of the gods, generally known as temple-girls. All of whom 
except the last, are of the high caste. Only the large temples 
can boast of a full complement of priests and attendants. 

The Priests are Brahmans who belong to the highest 
caste. Every brahman is not a priest but every priest must 
be a brahman. The brahmans today do not have the 
monopoly of wealth, learning and power as they had prior 
to English supremacy in Hindustan. The priests are trained 
from childhood to memorize texts from the Vedas, read the 
legends of the gods and as disciples of the older priests learn 
the intricate temple rites. They still, to some extent, have 
the sole right to study the sacred Sanskrit. Bigotry, exclu¬ 
siveness and pessimism are the invariable characteristics of 
brahmin priests. Necessarily so from the nature of their 
shastras (see page 21.) The priests as a rule are ignorant 
of the late discoveries of modern science, and are unac¬ 
quainted with the modern geography of the world. The 
greater part of the teachings of the Vedas are antagonistic 
to modern orthodox thought. 

I do not know of a single hindu priest, who is a college 
graduate in active temple work. Most of the educated 
brahmins enter the British civil service. The few who are 
independent use their knowledge in futile efforts to harmo¬ 
nize and excuse the contradictions and errors which abound 
in the sacred books of the East. Others lecture and write 


12 


on the “Golden days of long ago,” publish books and 
papers on “Hindu teachings,” organize new sects like the 
“Brahmo Somaj.” “Arya Somaj,” etc. Some come across 
the waters and parade their knowledge in western coun¬ 
tries to prove that the Hindus are equal to, if not superior 
intellectually and spiritually to their Aryan cousins of 
England and America. 

Disciples or Chelas are embryo priests. High caste boys 
who daily dust and brush the idols, wait upon the priests 
and learn thfe art of priest-craft. Sometimes they accom¬ 
pany their priests on a pilgrimage and beg from the 
villagers while the master 1 is at his devotions on the out¬ 
skirts of the village. 

The Musicians are hired on special occasions for the 
temple services, but often their services are gratuitously 
donated for merit and future reward. 

Deva-dasi or temple women are the dancing girls, 2 the 
only low caste persons privileged to participate in the ser¬ 
vices of the temple. They are supposed to be married to 
the gods, therefore to the idols, hence to those who are the 
sole oracles of the gods: the brahman priests. Twelve 
thousand of these dancing girls throng the temple precincts 
in the Madras presidency. They are trained to this profli¬ 
gate life from infancy. Hindu women often dedicate their 
unborn child, if it should be a girl, to the service of the gods, 
in hopes of pleasing the higher powers. The Brahman priest 
will associate freely and intimately with these girls, low of 
caste and morals, in the temple without fear of pollu¬ 
tion; but if the shadow of a foreigner falls on him after his 
morning bath he has to go through several ablutions and 
purification rites before he can re-enter the temple. The 
words of the late Bishop Lightfoot regarding ancient Greece 
are somewhat applicable to India:—“Imagine, if you can, 
this licensed shamelessness, this consecrated profligacy car¬ 
ried on under the sanction of religion and in the full blaze 

|. Brahmin priests are often called masters, 2. Tak trig part in the rel igious and temple 

teachers, swamis, gurus or saints, and dances. 

sadhus, or holy ones. 


13 


of publicity, while statesmen and patriots, philosophers and 
men of letters, look on unconcerned, not uttering one word, 
and not raising one finger to put it down.” 

Patriotism is unknown amongst the hindus, being 
merged into a blind devotion to the gods, temples and priests, 
regardless of the state of the country. Statesmanship is an 
art lost midst the clouds of caste prejudice and fogs of pessi¬ 
mism. The philosophers and men of letters in India by their 
negative systems of thought develop memory and concen¬ 
tration at the expense of judgment and reason. The}^ 
think much and do little. Careless and indifferent to his 
surroundings which he is taught to consider as mere 
illusions, (maya) the hindu literati makes no effort to 
change or improve them. The light and power of Christ is 
the only factor that will ever dispel the moral and spiritual 
gloom that covers the land. Thus it was with ancient 
Greece, pagan Rome, mystic Egypt, the savage Teutons, the 
wild Norsemen, barbarous Britain and so will it be with 
heathen India. 

Program of Seryice. Temple services are conducted 
whether any congregation be present or not. The service 
is more for the benefit of the idol and priest than the wor¬ 
shippers. About 22 distinct rites compose the program. 1. 
Bells are rung to rouse the deity from his slumbers; 2. a 
lamp with 3 or 7 1 wicks is waved in front of the idols; 3. 
the god’s teeth are cleaned by taking a stick a foot long, 
dipping it in water and rubbing them. This is omitted if 
the teeth are not made of stone or wood; 4. the god is next 
bathed by sprinkling water with a Tulsi 2 branch upon its 
head and arms; 5. it is dressed by putting a piece of clean 
linen over its shoulders; 6. the first breakfast of sweetmeats, 
curd and scraped cocoanuts is placed before it; 7. the god 
has a more substantial breakfast an hourlatef; 8. a lunch 
of milk, honey, and ghee 8 is given; 9. a glass of sherbet is 
given it to drink; 10. then a bell is rung thrice and the mid¬ 
day repast of curry, 4 rice and pastry, cakes and cream is 

1. Both sacrod Mystic Numbers. 8, Melted butter. 

2. An eastern herb. 4. A highly spiced dish. 


14 


set before it: 11. the god is then put to sleep by the 
waving of incense; 12. at 4. p m. the sanctuary being 
closed, cymbals and tomtoms 1 awaken the god; 13. sweets 
are offered; 14. the afternoon bath is administered; 15. he 
is dressed by changing the linen scarf over his shoulders; 16. 
another meal is served; 17. another bath is given; 18. the 
full dress ceremony takes place. Costly vestments, jeweled 
shawls, flowers and perfumery are lavished on the image; 
19. after an hour supper is served; 20. the temple vessels 
are then brought and blessed by the idol by being waved in 
its presence; 21. waving of lights before retiring; 22. a 
bedstead about 2 feet long is brought in for all idols from 2 
to 20 feet tall. The God is then told Parvati 2 awaits you 
and with the blowing of the holy shanka 3 and ringing of 
bells the temple doors are closed for the night. 

The Brahman fares sumptuously on the temple offerings, 
while the poor deluded worshippers often sacrifice a meal 
that the god may not go hungry. Offerings of food, money 
and clothes are the property of the priest in charge, his 
disciples and his dancing girls. No instructions on one’s 
duty to either god or man are given in the hindu temples. 
The priest recites in a low monotone some sutras (sacred 
texts ,) for which he is paid by the worshipper, the priest 
then asks if any one prese nt wishes the special favor of see¬ 
ing the Maha-deo ( Maha , great and deo, spirit.) On pay¬ 
ment of another liberal fee, incense is profusely burnt and 
when the idol and the shrine are enveloped in dense smoke 
theipriest ejaculates he comes! lo! he comes! Immediately the 
audience fall prostrate upon the floor in humble adoration 
and lie there till the brahman bids them arise one by one 
saying “arise go in peace for thou hast seen the invisible and 
hast earned the supreme reward of becoming aPARAMA H an¬ 
sa 4 (see page 11.) 

Sacrifice. The temples of Kali in Kalighat near Cal¬ 
cutta swim in the blood of goats and sheep during the 
pujas .(religious festivals,) the smell is sickening. Some- 

1- Small drums. 4 Parama, eternal. Hansa, goose. A swan 

2. A goddess. or goose is the bearer of Brahma in 

3. Shell bugle. his travels. 


15 


times the water in which the idol is washed is called ‘tirtha* 
and drunk as holy water. The cooked food after being 
offered to the idol is sold at exhorbitant prices to the people 
who call it Prasada (divine food.) The worshiper or devo¬ 
tee brings the victim (a goat, sheep, cow or a dove) to the 
temple, pays a fee to priest No 1 for putting the red mark of 
the trident on it without which the gods are not supposed to 
accept the sacrifice, pays the executioner (Priest No 2) who 
fixes the head of the animal in a frame and then beheads it, 
pays Priest No. 3 to put a few drops of the blood in front of 
the idol, pays Priest No. 4 for a part of the sacrificed victim 
which he values more than any divine gift. Sacerdotalism 
IS THE CURSE OF INDIA. 

Brahmin priests live on the fat of the land while the 
impoverished and priest-ridden millions, starving body and 
soul, having no hope in this or in the next world, wait 
patiently for the day of redemption. 

Human sacrifice in India is almost a relic of the past. 
This is due to aggressive Christian work and the strict 
enforcement of British law. 

Self-sacrifice, or self-inflicted tortures are yet practiced 
in the greater part of India to appease the anger of the 
gods and earn salvation by deeds of merit. The hook 
swinging, beds of spikes, thorn necklets, spiked sandals, etc. 
etc., are not of the past, they can be witnessed today. Many 
Urdha-Sanyasis 1 consecrate their right arms to the gods 
and go through the streets with tangled hair and unkempt 
nails, clothed in sackcloth, besmeared with ashes, crying 
“Oh God I err, Oh God I err, give me light, give me light.** 
The cry of the struggling soul in the darkness of sin and 
ignorance. 

Domestic Worship. Every home has one or more 
household gods placed in a niche in the east wall. These are 
worshiped generally at dawn and after sunset. Krishna 
and Sarasvati are two favorite household gods, Siva-linga 

1. Urdha, upward; Sanyasi, Devotee or 

wandering saint, sometimes called 

Yogis. 


16 


is another. The two former are mythical personages with 
almost an infinite number of legends connected with their 
lives. The latter is the symbolic emblem of creative force 
or the re-productive principle in nature. The hindu women 
worship the linga as the psychic principle of impregnation. 
Hence the worship and adoration of the male sex by the 
women of India and the degraded position she occupies in 
her husband’s estimation who considers her a mere medium 
ofpropagation and an object to gratify the animal passions. 
She is not favored with the rights, privileges and liberties 
that her more favored Christian sisters enjoy. 

Home-life. There exists no word in any of our Indian 
languages that is exactly equivalent to that grand old Sax¬ 
on monosyllable “home.” The little word that is the key 
to the national greatness and prosperity of Christian 
nations. “Home sweet home.” A hallowed place of rest 
and trustful intercourse, where all the inmates ; husband and 
wife, father and mother, son and daughter, gather round 
the same table in mutual dependence and loving confidence; 
each and all working for the general good and for the glory 
of the great Creator who created them. Such homes are 
unknown in India or in any land not blest by the joyful 
sound of Sabbath church bells and hallowed by the redeem¬ 
ing love of Christ. The writer has spent four years in the 
United States of America and during that period has read 
over fifty books, pamphlets and papers written by intelli¬ 
gent and sane men and women who have been brought up 
in Christian America, accusing the Bible and Christianity of 
degrading womanhood. The hindu system of thought and 
teaching is praised and advocated in these spurious works 
which cunningly entrap the unsteady and wavering. 
Thousands are misled by these seductive teachings which 
quote obsolete Sanskrit texts and use mystic terms and 
apocryphal histories to support their views. Not one of 
these fair writers would exchange their homes in America 
for the home of a Brahmin or consent to be a slave to his 
desires and be kept in seclusion for even twenty-four hours. 

17 


Mrs. Annie B— 1 Mrs. L. C— Miss De B— 2 Mme. B— 3 and 
some of their proteges have tried it to their bitter experience 
and learnt that theory and practice are two different things. 
The freedom and individuality of the women in Hindu homes 
are merged in the personality of the men. Wives, daughters 
and child-widows are kept in ignorance and compelled not 
only to work but to submit to every whim and caprice 
of the man who is the ruler, body, soul and spirit, of the 
entire household. I write from personal experience , for I 
was brought up in such a home. You may have read grand 
poetic effusions upon the honor and glory of Hindu Woman¬ 
hood translated from some obscure and spurious Sanskrit 
text, written perhaps by some of the advanced (?) thinkers 
of Chicago or Boston. Read also the following quotations 
from our sacred literature and then draw your own conclu¬ 
sions by comparing them with the Christian teachings 
regarding women and the present social, intellectual and 
moral condition of Christian women in America. 

Hindu law on woman. “Indra declared that the 
mind of a woman was ungovernable and her temper fickle.” 
Indra VIII 33, 17. 

“As words of truth, she praises lies. 

As arrant falsehood, she truth decries, 

Mistress of deceptive sleight 
Treats right as wrong and wrong as right” 

“ * * * * her ardour cooled 
They jilt the men they have fooled. 

Fickly newer objects seek, 

To suit their changing passion’s freak.” 

Metric trans. p. 139. 

“The bed (love of sleep,) the seat (laziness,) adornment, 
(vanity,) desire, wrath, deceitfulness, proheness to injure 
and bad morals the gods ordained for women.” Laws of 
Manu 4 IX 17. 


1. Some of her works on the Malthusian 3. 
doctrine were suppressed in England 
by law. 4. 

2. Now under trial in London for seduc¬ 

tion. 


Banished from her native land for fraud 
and intrigue. 

Manu’s laws are considered an infallible 
authority amongst Hindus. Max 
Muller and Oldenburg admit them to 
be the basis of aiLHindu law. 


18 


“Day and night should woman be kept by the male 
members of the family in a state of dependence. In pursuits 
to which they are too devoted, they should be restrained 
under the husband’s power.” Manu. IX 2. 

“The father guards them in childhood, the husband 
guards them in youth, in old age the sons guard them. A 
woman ought not to be in a state of independence.” Mann. 
1X3. 

“One should not eat with his wife nor look at her eating, 
sneezing, yawning, or sitting at her ease.” Manu IV. 43. 

“A wife, servant and pupil should, when they have com¬ 
mitted faults, be beaten with a cord or a bamboo cane.” 
Manu. VIII 299. 

“Though of bad conduct or debauched or even devoid of 
good a husband must always be served like a god by a good 
wife.” Manu. IX 154. 

“For women there is no separate sacrifice, nor vow, nor 
even fast; if a woman obeys her husband, by that she is ex¬ 
alted in heaven.” Manu. V 155, 

“Women being weak creatures, have no share in the 
Mantras (sacred texts,) for they (the women) are falsehood 
itself—so stands the law.” Manu. IX 18. 

“Let a wife who wishes to perform sacred oblations, 
wash the feet of her lord, and drink the water; for a hus¬ 
band is to a wife greater than Siva or Vishnu. The husband 
is her god, her priest, her religion. Wherefore abandoning 
everything else she ought chiefly to worship her husband.” 
Manu IV 35. [Skanda Puranas.] 

From books of Morals taught to the boys, showing the 
training the young minds receive which mould their attitude 
toward the girls and women, the following is quoted:— 

Hitopadesa . “If there is no place, no opportunity, no 
man to solicit, then only does the chastity of women appear. ” 

p. 122. 

“Neither shame, nor decorum, nor honesty, nor timidity; 
the want of a suitor is the sole cause of the chastity 
of woman.” p. 121. 


19 


“The appetite of woman is two-fold, their intellect four¬ 
fold, their craftiness six-fold and their desire eight-fold.” 
p. 117. 

Niti Sinthamani. “One may trust deadly poison, a river, 
a hurricane ****** the thief, the murderer, but if one 
trusts a woman, without doubt he must wander the streets 
a beggar.” 

Nitineri. 1 ‘Though her husband be of surpassing beauty, 
youthful * * * pleasing in address, the heart of woman will 
still be fixed on others.” p. 82. 

Such are the admirable (!) and elevating (!) ethics so 
fondly espoused and advocated by thousands of Literary Sa¬ 
vants in America who are progressing (?) beyond the nar¬ 
row (?) bounds of Christianity, into BROAD (?) FIELDS OF 
LIBERTY (?) AND LIGHT (?) !!! 


Caste 

Caste The word caste in English is a derivative of the 
Portuguese costa , position or casta , race. Varna and jati 
are its hindu synonyms, the terms mean color and race 
respectively. Chaturvamya (Chatur, four and varna, color) 
is an ancient distinguishing epithet of India. It is often 
alleged that caste in India is similar to civil and social 
distinctions in western lands. This is not true, for our 
caste is derived from birth alone, it cannot be transferred 
from one class to another, it cannot be gained as a reward 
for the highest merit, or conferred by the most powerful 
monarch. 

Origin of caste. There are no authentic records in the 
Shastras 1 regarding the origin of caste; the accounts are 
conflicting, The general idea in India is that the four 
original castes issued from the head, arms, thighs and feet of 
Brahma. 2 The Vedas admit only of two castes: the Aryas 
and Dasyus. 3 The first invaders of Hindustan were the 

1. Religious writings later than the Veda?. Universe; not the author or oreator. 

2. The source of all and the soul of the 3. Servants, 


20 



Aryas or Aryans. The aborigines of India being wandering 
tribes were considered inferior and treated as such by the 
invaders. The first great distinction was one of color. The 
Aryans from the North were fairer than the dark-skinned 
aborigines. Next came the social difference between the 
conquerors and the conquered. Difference of employment 
was another cause. As the professions and trades increased 
the number of castes increased also. Jealousy between rival 
families was another reason for the growth of caste systems. 

Present Caste Systems. Amongst the Brahmins or 
priests we have 2000 sub-divisions, while the Kshatryas 
have about 590. In order of rank the Brahmins or priest¬ 
hood stand first; the Kshatryas or soldier caste, second; the 
Vaisyasor farmers, third; theSudras or servant class fourth. 
The last include the Aborigines and hill-tribes of India. 
Custom is the law that governs caste. 

Caste Rules Undoubtedly the caste rules and the in¬ 
crease in the number of castes is due to the Brahmins. All 
the rules and laws regarding castes seem to have been 
framed for the special benefit of the Priesthood. Yet the 
lowest castes yield to none in the punctillious strictness 
with which they observe caste prejudices and regulations. 
The following are translations from the Laws of Manu:— 

Brahmans. 

93. “Since he sprang from the most excellent part, 
since he was the first-born, and since he holds the Vedas, the 
Brahman is, by right, the lord of all this creation. 

100. Thus whatever exists in the universe is all the 
property of the Brahman; for the Brahman is entitled to all 
by his superiority and eminence of birth. 

380. Certainly (the king) should not slay a Brahman 
even if he be occupied in crime of every sort; but he should 
put him out of the realm in posession of all his property, 
and uninjured (in body.”) Book I. 

The partiality of the caste rules in favor of the Brahmins 
has been the chief cause of the increase of pauperism in India 
by confining wealth to a few. It has crippled commercial 

21 


progress. A Sudra or low caste man can be a merchant in 
a very limited sense of the word for the law says: “an ac¬ 
cumulation of wealth should not be made by a Sudra, even 
ifheisableto do so.” The non-cognizance of caste in the 
commercial laws of Great Britain in India has greatly modi¬ 
fied sacerdotal authority; and thousands of Sudras 
may be found among the merchants in India today. 

Sudras. 

413. “But a Sudra, whether bought or not bought, 
(the Brahman) may compel to practice servitude; for that 
(Sudra) was created by the Self-existent merely for the ser¬ 
vice of the Brahman. 

417. A Brahman may take possession of the goods ot 
a Sudra with perfect peace of mind, for since nothing at 
all belongs to this (Sudra) as his own, he is one whose 
property may be taken away by his master. Book. VIII. 

125. The leavings of food should be given (him) and 
the old clothes; so too the blighted part of the grain; so too 
the old furniture. Book X. 

270. If a (man) of one birth assault one of the twice- 
born castes with virulent words, he ought to have his 
tongue cut out, for he is of the lowest origin. 

281. If a low-born man endeavors to sit down by the 
side of a high-born man, he should be banished after being 
branded on the hip. Book VIII. 

80. One may not give advice to a Sudra, nor (give him) 
the remains (of food) or (of) butter that has been offered. 
And one may not teach him the law or enjoin upon him 
(religious) observances. 

81. For he who tells him the law and he who enjoins 
upon him (religious) observances,, he indeed, together with 
that (Sudra) sinks into the darkness of the hell called Asa- 
martha (unbounded.”) Book IV. 

The baneful effects of the foregoing laws can be seen upon 
every hand in India in the abject submission to the priest¬ 
hood by the masses. A Brahman 1 may be illiterate or 
openly immoral yet by virtue of his order and birth he can 

1. Brahmins are considered to be twice-born. 

22 


command the worship and veneration of the once-born, 1 who 
may be his superiors in character, learning and wealth. He 
will invariably be addressed with the titles of divinity or of 
highest earthly honor. The Padma Purana says, “He who 
carries in his body a drop of water in which a Brahman’s 
toe has been washed gets all his sins immediately destroyed.” 

The curse of brahmanism has fallen on all native society 
and blighted it. The caste system is devised by crafty men 
to oppress their countrymen and is based on a blasphemous 
falsehood. It involves the worst of all wrongs to humanity, 
that of hallowing evils by the authority and sanction of 
religion. 

Evil effects of Caste. Prof. Max Muller, the ablest 
and most reliable student of our sacred books and translator 
of the Vedas, in Chips Vol. II says:—“There is no author¬ 
ity whatever in the hymns of the Vedas for the complicated 
system of caste, no law to prohibit the marriage of people 
belonging to different castes, no law to brand their offspring 
with an indelible stigma, no law to sanction the conceited 
pretentions of an arrogant priesthood.” 

The above is correct. The Arcadian life of our Aryan 
ancestors when they dwelt in the delightful vales of Cash- 
mere under the pristine simplieitj' of the Vedic law is not 
a subject to be discussed here. What is our PRESENT 
CONDITION? The needs of humanity must be considered 
from present conditions. The past riches and character of 
the pauper and criminal do not justify their present actions. 
Some advocates of Hinduism claim that “Caste promotes a 
stationary civilization, binds together men of the same class 
and is a check to promiscuous marriage and social degenera¬ 
tion.” Is this true? What are the results of 3000 year’s 
experience-under the caste rules? Three thousand years ago 
India was an enlightened and advanced nation. Not rivaled 
in literature, art and science by any Western nation. With 
the introduction and growth of the caste system a retro¬ 
grade history was inaugurated. 

While the past two thousand years has been the most 

1. The Sudras or low castes are considered once-born. 

23 


active period in the known history of the world; India has 
been in a state of deep lethargy. Not a single change has been 
made, not a forward step taken by priest or layman, king 
or subject. The caste system has proved itself a curse to the 
land. A man is doomed to remain in the position and occu¬ 
pation to which he has been born. Every motive and 
opportunity for social and intellectual advancement is 
removed. All individual liberty is crushed. Lest I be 
accused of exaggerating the present-day evils of the caste 
system, I quote the words of an unconverted Hindu. The 
following are the heads of a lecture by Pandit Siva Nath 
Sastri on “Caste” which is correct: 

“1 It has produced disunion and discord. 

2 It has made honest manual labor contemptible. 

3 It has checked internal and external commerce. 

4 It has brought on physical degeneracy by confining 
marriage within narrow circles. 

5. It has been a source of conservatism in everything. 

6. It has suppressed the development of individuality 
and independence of character. 

7. It has helped in developing other injurious customs, 
such as early marriage, the charging of heavy matrimonial 
fees, etc. 

8. It has successfully restrained the growth and devel¬ 
opment of national worth; while allowing opportunity of 
mental and spiritual culture only to a limited number of 
privileged people, it has denied those opportunities to the 
majority of the lower classes, consequently it has made the 
country, negatively, a loser.” 

Babu Keshub Chunder Sen, a hindu gentleman and 
scholar, prominent in the Brahmo Somaj work in India is 
a fearless iconoclast of the caste system. He says in an 
earnest appeal to Young India:— 

“The Hindu caste is a frightful social scourge. It has 
completely and hopelessly wrecked social unity, harmony, 
and happiness, and for centuries it has opposed all social 
progress. But few seem to think that it is not so much as 


24 


a social but as a religious institution that it has become the 
great scourge it really is. As a system of absurd social 
distinctions, it is certainly pernicious. But when we view 
it on moral grounds it appears as a scandal to conscience, 
and an insult to humanity, and all our moral ideas and 
sentiments rise to execrate it, and to demand its immediate 
extermination. Caste is the bulwark of Hindu idolatry and 
the safeguard of Brahminical priesthood. It is an audacious 
and sacrilegious violation of God’s law of human brother¬ 
hood. It makes civil distinctions inviolable divine institu¬ 
tions, and in the name of the Holy God sows perpetual dis¬ 
cord and enmity among His children! It exalts one section 
of the people above the rest, gives the former, under the seal 
of divine sanction, the monopoly of education, religion and 
all the advantages of social pre-eminence, and vests them 
with the arbitrary authority of exercising a tyrannical sway 
over unfortunate and helpless millions of human souls, 
trampling them under their feet and holding them in a state 
of miserable servitude. It sets up the Brahminical order as 
the very viceregents ot the Deity and stamps the mass of 
the population as a degraded and unclean race, unworthy 
of manhood and unfit for heaven.” 

The above finds an echo in thousands of panting hearts, 
but powerless to overthrow a custom hoary with age; we 
“bend beneath the yoke of centuries” and wait. 

Illustrations: 1. A weary traveler falls exhausted b} 7 the 
side of a village street. None know his caste, none approach 
him fearing pollution. 1 He starves to death unless the 
wolves or jackals hasten the end. I have often seen such 
cases when a boy, and have also seen high-caste children 
throw stones and mud at him. 

2. During famines the Brahmins do not help the lower 
castes fearing loss of caste. The low-caste man cannot 
retaliate fearing the anger and curse of the gods. 

3. Such is the punctilious strictness with which the 
rites are observed that it was with the greatest difficulty at 
times I induced mothers to accept food for their starving 

1. Touching a Low Cast man or a foreigner pollutes a Brahmin. 

25 


children during famines. Often compelled to forcibly snatch 
the child away from its mothers arms to save its life. 

4. During the plague in Bombay hundreds of cases to 
my knowledge refused medical aid preferring death to loss 
of caste. 

5. In Bengal when the government first introduced the 
waterworks system; the hindus chose to drink the water 
from stagnant ponds and muddy creeks rather than the 
clear and sweet pipe-water, lest they lose caste. 

6. I once saw a man, through a railroad car window, 
lying under the branch of a Mango tree that had accident¬ 
ally fallen upon him. A crowd of spectators stood idly 
looking on making no effort to help him. I learnt later 
that as they could not decide his caste he was allowed 
to die. This incident occurred in a Rajah’s 1 territory. 

7. A hindu dare not keep his girl at home without 
marrying her to some one before she is 9 years of age. Caste 
rules demand her marriage though a child. 

8. Can any object or raise a dissenting voice against 
these evils? No, for he immediately loses his caste. A hindu 
loses his caste if he eats food that has been cooked by one 
who is not a hindu or by one of lower caste, if while he is 
eating a lower caste touch him, if after his morning religious 
bath the shadow of a foreigner or low caste fall upon 
him, by intermarriage with one of a different caste, or by ac¬ 
cepting a new faith or creed. When one loses caste he does 
not fall to the next one lower, but becomes an outcast, 
ostracised from all social and religious privileges. All 
manner of indignities and reproaches are heaped upon him. 
Other religions may be seated in the mind or soul but the 
stronghold of Hinduism is the stomach, a hindu may retain 
his caste and faith against all argument and against all 
violence but mix a piece of beef in his food and his religion 
is gone. He has ceased to have any rights in this world or 
the next. 

1. Kaja, a Hindu priest or rular 


26 


Ceremonial Rites. 


Birth Ceremonies. The priest is informed when a 
birth occurs within the precincts of his temple, who 
immediately rings the call to sacrifice. The father and other 
relatives of the new-born babe, after the puja 1 at home 
go to the temple with offerings of ghee, 2 plantains, 3 rice 
and silver or gold. Ostensibly the gifts are for the gods, 
practically they enrich the coffers of the brahmins in charge 
of the temple. All castes with a few minor exceptions have 
nearly similar ceremonial rites for this occasion. The hour 
of birth is given the priest, who suggests a name for the 
infant, for which he is well remunerated. The blessings of 
the gods are invoked with the clash of cymbals, waving of 
incense and the loud notes of the Sankha. 4 The service 
upon such occasions depend upon the value of the offer¬ 
ings donated. The larger the offering the longer and more 
elaborate the program for the service. 

Social gatherings. The friends of the family, who are 
invariably of the same caste, are invited to spend an even¬ 
ing with them. As many brahmins as wish may come, they 
need no invitation. These social gatherings, if I may term 
them so, are of a very peculiar nature. They partake of a 
semi-religious character because of the large attendance of 
priests. If the host be wealthy, hundreds of brahmins from 
far and near mingle with the guests. Curry 5 and rice is 
served on plantain 6 leaves, cut into one-foot lengths with 
cocoanut shell ladles to each of the guests who sit on the 
ground facing one another in rows of tens and twenties out 
in the yard. The brahmins chant slokas , 7 recite mantras 8 
and sprinkle the ganges water with tulsi 9 branchs while the 


occasions, sometimes public. 

2. Melted butter. 

3. Bananas. 

4. A bugle made out of a large shell. 

5. Hash oooked with 21 kinds of condiments 


1. Puja, Domestic worship on special 


and plenty of red-pepper. 
6. Banana. 


u« oacrea oansoni toAir, 

9. A fragrant aromatic herb. 


7. Sacred Sanskrit proverbs. 

8. Sacred Sanscrit texts. 


27 


guests enjoy the repast, eating with their fingers. The 
women are not permitted to associate with the men in these 
feasts. They generally spend the evening in-doors or in 
another part of the yard curtained from the public gaze 
with bamboo mats. 

Horoscopes. Delineations of life and character accord¬ 
ing to the positions of the planets at the time of birth is a 
very ancient science. Heavenly bodies were deemed senti¬ 
ent orbs governing one another by magnetic influences. 
Each planet is invested with certain occult influences revealed 
only to mystics and adepts. Some were worshiped in var¬ 
ious countries by those who sought for nothing beyond 
phenomena. The Sun:—Heb. Ashahed the all-bountiful fire, 
Osiris of Egypt, Chrishna of India, Belusoi Chaldea, Ormuzd 
of Persia, signifies the electric potentialities of creative pow¬ 
er. Positive in influence. The moon:—Heb. Ashvem or 
Shunim fructifying principle, Chandra of the Hindus, Isis of 
Egypt, Diana of Egypt. Ancient sages first discovered the 
starry truths that shone upon the great Shemaia of Chal¬ 
dean lore. In the present century however, the science is 
wholly hypothetical and speculative, dabbled into by un¬ 
principled charlatans. Very few modern astrologers have 
mastered the true principles of Astral magnetism and the 
science of solar light. The Brahmins make out a horoscope 
for the infant whose natural tendencies, traits of character, 
accidents, misfortunes and other events are foretold with 
tolerable accuracy. An exhorbitant fee is charged for the 
same. The prognostications are favorable or unfavorable 
according to the amount paid to the priest. Judgment 
and reason are often sacrificed that the decrees of Karma 
may be fulfilled. 1 

Fatality or Karma. 2 I am aware that philosophically 
Karma is not fatality, but I am dealing with results and 
actualities not with abstract principles. Karma is the law 
of cause and effect, this law is innate in every atom of the 
universe, this innate law is the supreme eternal potency 

1. A fuller account of the Stellar influence 2. The distinction is dealt with under the 

will be given in No. Y. head of Karma in No. V. 


28 


governing all. The immanent ubiquity of the law of 
Karma is Pantheism. Admit this and there is no room 
either for God, soul or free moral agency. Is this not Fatal¬ 
ism? The history of the world has proved beyond all doubt 
that Pantheistic Karma has led its followers as nations 
into a condition of listless apathy and indifference to all 
material surroundings and has plunged them into ignorance 
and superstition. Bear in mind that ALL THE GREAT 
DEPARTURES FROM THE SIMPLICITY OF THE TRUTH 
WERE HERALED BY A PANTHEISTIC TENDENCY. 

The mysteries of Psychic phenomena, Astral magnetism 
and Occultism, in the minds of the ignorant, degenerate into 
gross superstition, demonolatry and belief in ghosts, gob¬ 
lins and spooks. The lower castes therefore believe in necro¬ 
mancy, witchcraft, omens and kindred superstitions. They 
render a blind devotion to the priests and often are cruel 
and inhuman so that the verdict of the gods as manifest in 
the horoscopes by the brahmin may not be frustrated. 
Every minute detail in the care of the infant is subservient 
to the law imposed upon the credulous public by the 
priest-hood. The infant is daily rubbed all over with 
mustard oil and placed out on a little mat in the sun for a 
few moments each day when he is a week old until he is 
dedicated to the gods. If a high-caste boy, the sacred thread 1 
is put on at his consecration, this ceremony is observed 
when the child is over three months of age. No specific rules 
are observed. The god to which he is dedicated is dependent 
upon the ruling planet at his birth and is his controlling 
or guiding spirit through life. 

Partiality to Sex. More care and attention is shown 
the boy than the girl. Partiality to men is a distinctive and 
prominent feature in non-christian lands. The boy is taught 
the elementary branches in the patshalas (country schools). 
If of the high caste he leams the shastras and officiates in 
the pujas. Girls are debarred the foregoing privileges. The 
only services in which the girls are permitted to take part 

1. Emblem of high caste. When worn out 
it is again put on with great ceremon¬ 
ial rites. 


29 


are those which tend to the respect and adoration of man, 
and the goddesses of domestic labor. 

Marriage. A few weeks after the birth of a girl in a 
family her parents begin to look for an eligible groom. An 
unmarried girl in a home is a disgrace and her death before 
marriage is considered a curse. A girl who attains her 
maturity without a husband is considered a calamity. The 
family gods through the priests play a very conspicuous 
part in the choice of a groom and the necessary preliminary 
arrangements. 

Marriageable Age. Marriage amongst the hindus is 
not a civil institution but a sacrament. According to Manu 
it is one of the twelve Sanskara, or purificatory rites (II. 27 
etc.,) by which a person is purified from hereditary sin. The 
ancient laws of marriage are vague and ambiguous as to 
age. 

Examples from Maim's laws:— 

89. “Better that the girl even if she has arrived at her 
age should remain at home till death, than given to an un¬ 
worthy suitor. ” 

90. “A girl having reached her age should wait three 
years for a husband; but at the end of that time she should 
herself choose a husband of like caste.” 

94. “At the age of thirty a man may marry a girl of 
twelve years; or if he is thrice eight years he may marry a 
girl of eight years. If his religious duties would otherwise 
be unfulfilled he may marry at once.” Book IX. 

Gautamas ‘Institutes of sacred-law’:— 

21. “A girl should be given in marriage before she 
attains her age.” 

22. “He who neglects it commits sin.” 

23. “Some before she wears clothes. 1 Book XVIII. 

Paithinashi in Dayabhaga (an athentic law(:— 

“A girl should be given in marriage before she gets her 
growth. But if she come of age 2 before marriage, both the 

1. Girls are permitted to run around the 2. Age in the above passages mean age 

house naked till 5 or 6 years of age. of puberty. 


30 


giver and taker fall into the abyss oi hell; and her father, 
grandfather and great-grandfather are bom insects in 
ordure.” Book XI. 

The year the writer left India the census of the small 
native state of Baroda showed that 132 males and 558 
females were married before they had completed their first 
year. In Bengal out of every 1000 hindu girls between the 
ages of 5 and 9 years, 271 are married and 11 are widows. 
In Madras some are married before seven years of age, and 
nearly all before ten. Between six and seven is the average 
age of marriage for Brahman girls. This naturally gives a 
high percentage of widows. Nearly one-third of the Brah¬ 
min women in India are widows. 

Consent of parties unnecessary. The parents arrange 
the union and their future residence, choose the garments 
to be worn, and plan for the future, guided by the oracular 
horoscope and priestly advice. 

Journey to the temple. The little children on the 
night of their wedding are taken to the temple in a palan¬ 
quin 1 or doolie. 2 Sometimes the bride is carried on horse¬ 
back in the arms of the groom. The ceremony is often 
performed in the open court-yard or a vacant lot when a 
temple is not conveniently reached. A small company of 
friends accompany the couple carrying torches. 

The service. The court is brilliantly lighted up with 
candles and clay lamps fixed on bamboo sticks and plantain 
trees. The lights are placed about 6 inches apart with 
bright torches about 10 feet apart. 

The priest. The Brahmin sits on a raised platform 
and proceeds with the service which is long and tedious. 
The young girl-bride often falls asleep in the groom’s arms 
scarce realizing the importance of the service. The service 
generally begins about midnight and is continued till morn¬ 
ing. Laws from sacred texts are read and devotional hymns 
are sung. 

Wedding procession. The following evening with 

1. A vehicle carried on the shoulders of 2. A twine hammock with a frame seat 

men ©n poles. carried with a pole on the shoulders. 


31 


great pomp and splendor the marriage procession consist¬ 
ing of horses and elephants with gay trappings march 
through the village, the married couple bringing up the rear. 
The festivities are continued sometimes for a week. Betore 
British rule in India the bridegroom took the bride home 
immediately after marriage. Very frequently this led to the 
most degrading cruelty and brutality. Many women, rather 
girls, become mothers at eleven years of age and grand¬ 
mothers at twenty-five. (The authors mother was not 
quite twelve when he was born.) 

Early marriage is the cause of national weakness and 
social degeneracy. “Because of this marriage system, gifted 
races of India have degenerated, and become subjugated 
by foreign powers, and governed by the physically stronger 
and more energetic races, and India holds a subordinate 
place among the nations. This condition of affairs will con¬ 
tinue so long as the mothers of the nation remain the victims 
of such a vicious marriage system, and are kept in a state 
of bondage, ignorance and superstition. As long as mothers 
remain too feeble and too immature to impart strength and 
vitality to their offsprings—so long will the Indian races 
lack strength, and courage, and hardihood—and the nation 
will remain weak and dependent.” 1 In 1872 the British 
government passed the native marriage act. It fixed the 
minimum age of a bride at fourteen, but required the writ¬ 
ten consent of parents when either party was under 
twenty-one. Act XV. has removed the legal obstacles to 
the re-marriage of widows. So that if a hindu widow 
chooses to remarry she has the legal right to do so now. 

Polygamy. A hindu is permitted legally to have one wife. 
The Kuleen brahmins however are given the privilege (?) 
of having seven. The husband is not compelled to live with 
any one particular wife, he makes his choice and lives with 
her. Once or twice a year he visits his other wives. It is 
considered a high honor to be married to a Kuleen-Brahmin. 
Parents of girls give as much money as they can afford 

1. Mrs. Mansell, M. D., of Cawnpore. 


32 


with the girls as an inducement and also keep her at home 
after marriage and support her if she does not happen to be 
the favored one. As girls are taught that death without 
offspring consigns them to the third hell, promiscuous 
intercourse and immorality is the inevitable result of this 
custom. Thousands of girls are taught that the embrace of 
a brahmin is a sure means of atonement and redemption 
from the degradation of being re-born a woman. Polygamy 
is not sanctioned by the sacred books and is a custom only 
confined to the few Kuleen Brahmins in the eastern part of 
India. 

Death. Death is considered by the hindus to be merely 
a change of habitation for the Atman (soul). The doctrine 
of transmigration of souls is believed throughout India by 
*the hindus. The soul and all life are considered to be ema¬ 
nations from the universal intelligence, Brahma; therefore 
possessing, in a finite degree, his attributes. At each death 
the soul either advances toward or recedes from its ultimate 
destiny. The final end of the soul is absorbtion into the 
Brahm (spirit of the universe). 

Care of the sick. When ill, the brahmin priest is 
called and the stars, oracles and gods are all consulted 
through him and the patient treated accordingly. If the 
oracles predict recovery no means or labor are spared to 
insure it. If death be predicted then all give up hopes and 
in despair neglect the patient. This explains the accurate 
predictions of the Brahmins! The dying man is taken out¬ 
doors that his spirit may not haunt the home. Very often 
the sacred cow is brought and its tail put into the hands 
of the dying man while the attendant priests sprinkling 
Ganges water on man and beast insure a higher birth after 
death. When women are about to die, the gods are invoked 
to bless the soul of the dying woman into a man the next 
time it is bom. A few years ago the suttee (widow-burn¬ 
ing) was the only hope for the emancipation of the souls 
of women from the disgrace of being re-born in the same sex. 

Shraddha or funeral service. Shraddha in Sanskrit 
means faith or belief. There are various kinds of shraddha , 
L.ofC. 


33 


I shall mention only a few. The funeral service of the hindu 
consists chiefly in burning incense, sprinkling the Ganges wa¬ 
ter, offering balls of rice and sweets to ancestral shades and 
calling on Ram, Krishna and other deities to aid the soul in 
obtaining higher births in its transmigrations. These servi¬ 
ces held at stated times are called Shraddhas. There is an¬ 
other Shraddha ceremony which teaches its observants to 
offer a sacrifice on the eighth lunation of every month for 
3 years. Particular seasons are specially appropriate to 
the observance of this rite, such as the new moon, the sum¬ 
mer and winter solstices, lunar and solar eclipses, etc. The 
hindus practice cremation, Mahomedans burial and Parsees 
nude exposure on the towers of silence. 

Cremation Ground. On the banks of the Ganges and 
its tributaries there are thousands of burning-ghats. Blocks 
of stone on which corpse are burned are held sacred and 
worshiped by many. Short logs and sticks are piled, satu¬ 
rated with oil, on the stones or on the ground and over this 
is placed the body. Sometimes the relatives watch the fire 
and wait till nothing is left but ashes. When the deceased is 
a woman often the priestly attendants kindle the fire and 
leave the place. 

Uncleanness. A ghastly sight is presented on many a 
buming-ghat or cremation ground during an epidemic of 
cholera or small-pox. The bones and half consumed bodies 
lie strewn all over the ground; some partially under the 
rising tide. While swarms of vultures hover near. On look¬ 
ing a few miles down the river one may see thousands of 
men and women standing in the stream and eagerly wor¬ 
shiping the same water and drinking it as holy(?) water to 
be cleansed from their sins. This disgusting sight is com¬ 
mon in the vicinities of Beuares, Ajudhya and other sacred 
cities on the Ganges. Uncleanness, moral and physical, is the 
natural adjunct of heathenism. 

Bathings. The rites of hinduism present striking self 
contradictions and inconsistencies. Grossly unclean in some 
of their moral and religious customs, in others they are 
scrupulously clean and careful. The morning bath, Ganges 

34 


bath, eclipse bath, lunar and solar baths are absolutely 
necessary to cleanse them from sin. Not in a symbolical 
manner only, but the mode, time and place, each and all 
possess a certain degree of merit. 

Religious baths. These are called snan and are dis¬ 
tinct from ordinary ablutions. Those living near the 
sacred Ganges combine both and make every bath a relig¬ 
ious ceremonial rite. There are several sacred rivers in India 
but the merit of the Ganges is unequaled in its purifying 
powers. One bath in the sacred Ganges insures a man bene¬ 
fits and rewards in the next world to as many generations 
as the number of rupees (about 28cts.) he gives the Ganga- 
putra (sons of the Ganges. Brahmins who throng the banks.) 
He can, by paying more, help the spirits of all his ancestors 
who yet animate other forms or are striving in the unseen 
world to be absorbed into the infinite. 

Kasi or Benares is the most popular religious bathing 
resort of the Hindus. Thousands of pilgrims daily throng 
the banks of the river waiting the chance to plunge into its 
healing waters. 

Ganga-putras. Putra in Sanskrit is son. Sons of the 
Ganges are brahmins who obtain their living near the 
sacred bathing resorts by assisting pilgrims of both sexes in 
their devotions and baths, blessing them and piloting them 
to the temples they most need to visit. These loungers reap 
a harvest during the year by obtaining fees from the temples 
and also from the pilgrims. 

Diverse Washings. Well water is generally used in the 
interior of the country. A stone flag, or board is found in 
almost every hindu house. Local priests (brahmins) go 
round from house to house painting the sacred trident 1 in 
red on these bathing stones or boards and also on the lintels 
of doors and gate posts. This secures immunity from 
wandering evil spirits. He demands and obtains pay for 
his work. Standing upon this consecrated bathing stone 
every morning, one by one the entire household take their 


l. 


Three-pronged 
hindu triad. 


fork symbolic of the 

35 


morning baths by pouring one to four water-pots of water 
on themselves. The water from the wells in India is 
warm when fresh but cools rapidly if placed in a shady 
place in earthen water-pots. Mantras 1 and Slokas 2 are 
muttered in inaudible tones while bathing. Every hindu must 
bathe every morning before he breaks his fast. The baths 
are generally taken out-doors in the back yard by the well, 
but a running stream is always preferable. Where streams 
abound they stand waist-deep in the river with the face 
toward the rising sun and turn round slowly repeating 
certain portions of the Shastras that he may happen to 
remember at the time. Amongst the low castes the women 
bathe in the river with the men. In Bengal the women 
walk through the streets, after the morning bath in the 
river, to their homes with wet garments (a single sari) thin 
as cheese-cloth clinging closely to their forms. The more 
transparently thin a woman’s sari is the more refined she is 
considered in taste! This is inconsistent with female deli¬ 
cacy. Their moral status is not of a high order. In the 
north-western provinces of India the women are more par¬ 
ticular and careful, bathing before sunrise and before the 
crowds assemble. They slip on a dry and clean garment 
over the one in which they have bathed, which they loosen 
and let fall under the clean one while fastening it around the 
body. 

The gayatri is chanted sometimes while bathing. It 
is a passage from the 3d section of the Rig-veda and is con¬ 
sidered unsurpassed by any in the sacred writings for the 
salvation of the soul— 

“Tat Sivitur Varenyam bhargo devasya—dhiyo yo nah 
prachodyat.” Mandala (Rig-Veda) III. 62. 10. Trans: 
May we attain that excellent glory of Savitur the god: So 
may he stimulate our prayers. 

Savitur being sometimes used for the sun, some 3 think 
the above passage originally was an invocation of the sun 
to shed a benignant influence upon the customary modes of 
worship. This passage is recited several times during the 

1. Texts.—2 Proverbs. 3. Max Muller, Oldenberg, Sir W. Monier. 

36 


ablutions by the brahmin who breathes heavily to drive 
away the attendant demonds that are numerous where a 
religious rite is being observed. Holding the head under 
water almost to the point of suffocation is considered a 
very meritorious act. 

Eclipse baths. Bathing during the Lunar eclipse is 
considered of special and extraordinary merit in the puri¬ 
fication of the soul. The river banks are thronged with half 
clad men and women frantically rushing to the waters, 
while hundreds of brahmins with trident and blazing 
torches rush to and fro collecting offerings to Rahu the 
dread monster, screaming frantically to keep him from 
swallowing the moon. As soon as the eclipse begins a 
solemn hush falls on the assembly broken only by the wail 
and smothered sobs of the priests. As soon as the eclipse is 
over, from the multitude there rises a victorious shout of 
“Ganga Mai Ka jai” Victory to mother Ganges. The 
torches are rekindled, the bells are rung, the cymbals are 
clashed and there follows a frenzied whirl of religious 
dance in honor of the gods, till utterly exhausted the crowds 
disperse silently to their homes. Rahu is supposed to be a 
great demon with four arms and a tail like that of a dragon. 
When the gods had obtained Amrita, 1 the water of immor¬ 
ality by churning the sea of milk, 2 Rahu stole among them 
and drank a portion secretly. The sun and moon observing 
the theft told Vi'shun 3 who threw his chakra 4 at him and 
severed his head and arms from the rest of his monstrous 
body. As Rahu had tasted some of the elixir of life previously, 
both parts continued to live. They are regarded as the 8th 
and 9th planets and are named Rahu and Khetu. Periodically, 
in revenge, they attempt to swallow the sun and moon, in 
this they would succeed were it not for the timely interven¬ 
tion of the brahmins who take advantage of this mythic 
legend to enlarge their own coffers. 

The tyranny and avarice of sacerdotalism is on the 

1. Mritu, death and a, against. Sometimes 3. Second in hindu triad—sustained 

used for fruit of immortality. 4. Steel disc. 

2. Sea of milk bounds the universe, Shas- 

tras. 

37 


wane only in districts that are directly under British rule 
and in provinces influenced by the heralds of the Gospel. 

Evolution and progression may be innate in the human 
soul but its latent principles need the revivifying touch of the 
fire from the altar of God to arouse them into activity. 
The power of Brahminism is still rampant in the independent 
states. An instance of this was seen in Travancore. It seems 
that the original founders of the royal house of Travancore 
were Sudras; so whenever a young maharajah ascends the 
throne he is required to perform two costly ceremonies in 
order that he may take rank as a Brahman. 

The first of these ceremonies is known as the Thulapur- 
usha Danam, which consists in the maharajah entering a 
pair of scales against an equal weight of gold coins, which are 
afterward distributed among the Brahmans, wno flock 
from all parts of Southern India for the occasion. This cere¬ 
mony takes place in the Central Pagoda at Trevandum and 
lasts a week, during which time the Brahmans are feasted. 
The second ceremony is known as the Hirannya Gharbham y 
and constitutes the process known as “going through the 
golden cow.” A large golden vessel is constructed, ten feet 
in height and eight in circumference, and half filled with 
water mixed with the various products of the cow. This 
unsavory mixture having been duly consecrated by certain 
Brahmanical rites, the maharajah enters the vessel by means 
of a specially constructed ornamental ladder. The cover is 
then put on, and the maharajah immerses himself five times 
in the contained liquid, while the Brahmans keep up a 
chanted accompaniment of prayers and Vedic hymns. After 
being thus hidden from sight for about ten minutes the 
maharajah emerges from the vessel and prostrates himself 
before the image of the deity of the kings of Travancore. The 
priest nowjplaces the crown of Travancore on the mahara¬ 
jah’s head, after which he is considered to have rendered 
himself holy by having passed through the golden cow. 

Conclusion. It is apalling to think that the human 
soul conscious of its guilt, anxious for pardon and reconcil¬ 
iation with God should be so cruelly mocked and deceived. 


38 


READER: this is practical and actual Hinduism shorn of its 
fancied glories. Our idols and the ‘gunga’ are our only hope, 
the Brahmins our only guides, the fetid waters of the Ganges 
are our only healing balm. We have prayed and sacrificed 
to our gods for the past 5000 years, but they have not 
heard or helped us. We are today just where and what we 
were when we commenced. 

We hear of social reform, what is it? We hear of ad¬ 
vancement, what does it mean? We hear of a loving God, 
where? We read of a gentle Savior, how can we know him? 
We have homes to protect, wives to love and children to 
train. Can you tell us how? Will you share with us the 
Word that shall open the doors of heaven to us, as it has 
been opened to you? Will you give us the key to unlock the 
treasuries of infinite love and which has been intrusted to 
your care? 

“What if your own were starving 
Fainting with famine pain, 

And yet you knew, where grew 

Rich fruit and golden grain 

Would you hear their wail as a thrice-told tale 

And return to your feast again? 

Yet what else are you doing, 

Oh ye by Christ made free, 

If you’ll not tell what you know so well 
To those across the sea, 

Who have never heard one tender word 
Of the Lamb of Calvary? 

“They are not our own” you answer 
“They are neither kith nor kin,” 

They are GOD’S OWN; His love alone 
Can save them from their sin; 

They are CHRIST’S OWN; 

He left His throne 

And DIED THEIR SOULS TO WIN.” 


Deacidified using the Bookkeeper proce 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Jan. 2005 

PreservationTechnologif 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATI 
111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(7241 779-9111 





LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 


0 013 685 824 5 • 

% 


S E R I E S * A. 


PAMPHLETS on ORIENTAL RELIGIONS 

* ¥ * BY * * * 

A. G. VAN HAAFTEN 

1. Hinduism. 

2 Buddhism. 

3 Islamism. 

4 Zoroastrianism. 

5. Comparative Eastern Philosophy. 


PRICE, 


25 Cents Each, or $2.50 per doz. 


POSTAGE FREE. 










































































































































































































